by Capt. Phil Muldrow
The cool down brought us a decent bait run just offshore our Cedar Key coastline and hence, a nice rally of Spanish mackerel on world famous Seahorse Reef. This action should remain with us until the water temperatures hit the low 60s. The speckled trout have also made a nice comeback and limits are now the norm. Wish I could share the same news with our redfish. They have once again thinned out and turned back into a mystery fish. No one really knows where the big schools are and my hunch is, it will remain that way until we get some serious cold weather in late November. That cool down will definitely push them into our numerous creeks and rivers to the north and south of Cedar Key. They will be easy prey for the airboat, jet drive and shallow skiff fleets when it comes time. Other species like shark, cobia, and resident tarpon will surely thin out and probably start their southerly migration.
In our offshore waters, the fall grouper season is now in full swing and off to a super start. Our window of opportunity has been limited by stiff winds and high seas but when the good gulf calms down between the blows, the action is outstanding. Plenty of red grouper and keeper gags are abundant if you know where to find them. On my last charter, we scored our limit of big ones on just two rock piles. Most of our fish were in the 27-32 inch class, granted, it was a spot I haven’t shed in two years. My old reliable, south-southwest of the steel tower in 36 has also produced limits of gags and surprising amounts of big red grouper, up to 12lbs. Actually, the most reliable red grouper fishing is in 50-55 feet in my humble opinion, which is nice; a lot less travel means a lot more fishing and less gas expense. Hopefully this trend will continue and actually improve in November. We’re hoping November will be nice and not naughty. Considering our rough and tough summer season, it would be nice and much appreciated by all grouper diggers to finish out strong. As always, we’ll take what the good gulf gives us.
Happy Thanksgiving to all. Good luck and good fishing in November. Enjoy the fishy Nature Coast all you can. Also, a big dose of good luck to the Gators as they are in the tough part of their schedule and trying to have a winning season.
Congratulations to the Seminoles who just keep winning and sure look like this might be their year for something special. They too have some big games to go, but so far, have all the pieces in place for another national championship possibly. Stay cool folks! See you next month, “if nothin’ don’t happen!”
FORECAST BY: Captain Phil Muldrow
Native Son Charters, Inc. Cedar Key, Florida
352-543-9930